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Description: A sawmill cuts logs into lumber and sells this lumber to secondary remanufacturers. The price a sawmiller can charge for a volume of lumber depends on its grade. For a number of species the price of a given volume of material can double in going from one grade to the next higher grade. While the grade of a board largely depends on the distribution of defects on the boardâs surface, the grade of the board can usually be increased by appropriate edging and trimming. Optimal edging and trimming can markedly increase sawmill profits. In this paper research aimed at creating a computer vision system to power such an optimal edging and trimming system is described. This system is designed to analyze images of rough hardwood lumber in a species independent manner. Results are presented that demonstrate the capabilities of the current system.

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